Stay-Focused with Brandon Lloyd

Stay-Focused (S-F) is an organization that offers mobility-challenged persons the opportunity to become certified SCUBA divers, and through that experience to learn lasting lessons about life and achievement. It promotes empowerment, discipline, and focus in helping young adults achieve personal goals. Also, Stay-Focused is committed to supporting medical research that explores the beneficial aspects of water sports on persons with mobility issues.

While in the Cayman Islands in May for the 2007 NFL Quarterback Challenge, NFL wide receiver Brandon Lloyd (Washington Redskins) spent time with Ryan Chalmers, Jackie Cimino and others as they all learned to Stay-Focused while scuba diving.

Take a moment to watch this NFL Network Feature YouTube clip and no doubt you too will be caught up in the wave of enthusiasm exhibited by these folks.

Disability Matters. 1st Edition

Written by: Connie Kuusisto

Just as "It Takes a Village" to raise children, it also takes a village to raise awareness about issues of disability.

"By uniting people with disabilities and those desiring to enjoy our social intercourse, share our cultural perspective, understand our political agenda, and address our broad general and specific consumer needs, we will achieve success."

This statement, borrowed from the powerful Mission Statement of [with]tv is also useful when referring to the community of bloggers discussing issues of disability. [with]tv is on a mission to unite people with disabilities....and everyone else. This blog has been created to support that mission and this blog, like every other blog, needs a village.

Having said that, we would like to introduce the following blogs to our blogroll titled "Disability Matters". Please visit, comment, link and enjoy one another as we celebrate life, with or with out a disability, and each other. Let us welcome these blogs, and their "bloggers", to our [with]tv Village.

The Day Al-Mohamed Blog: Day lives in Washington DC with her partner and two very spoiled yellow labradors. By day (no pun intended) she is a mild-mannered Legislative and Federal Affairs Officer but by night she is another frantic-typing, tea-swilling, candle-burning writer. For a more formal bio, please visit Day at her other blog, Day in Washington: Home of the Disability Policy Podcast.

David at Growing up with a Disability says "I am 21 years old and am taking a year away from college to pursue this project. I like sports, music, travel, and conversation. And, I have cerebral palsy. I believe society often underestimates the complexity of living with a disability - the joys, the challenges, the ordinary, and the extraordinary."

Planet of the Blind is "a space where those of us who live on the Planet of the Blind, or any other planet, can share our experiences and network together."

The Rolling Rains Report is a most informative blog "Precipitating Dialogue on Travel, Disability, and Universal Design" - and then some - by Dr. Scott Rains.

Rob Roy at The Journey believes that "Through sharing stories, we can learn accurate information about specific disabilities and challenge ourselves to look beyond people’s limitations and embrace diversity. Welcome to the journey where we explore truth and watch it evolve creating a better world for all -- one that is inclusive of all."

Ruth is a Wheelie Catholic and writes "a blog about issues concerning people with disabilities providing information, raising concerns, sharing experiences and encouraging prayerful efforts toward social justice and inclusion in the Catholic church community and the world at large."

The Six Knows of Preparing to Travel

By Scott Rains

"Vacation" is a magic word. Use it in a conversation and people are likely to momentarily spirit off to their private bit of paradise; disappear to somewhere that exists between fantasy and the world-as-we-know-it. But even Harry Potter puts in long hours of preparation to work his magic. So, what's the magic formula for conjuring up a charmed vacation?

First, open up your own personal travel style for inspection. Add a pinch of experience from each of the Six Knows below and you will spice your formula with the wisdom of other travelers with disabilities. Stir it up with a friend or travel agent. Then get out there and see the world!

Know Yourself

Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living." Take it from me, it's not worth carting along on the road with you either.

First off, ask yourself: What would make this vacation a success for you? Try to answer that question even before you decide on a destination, a reservation, or a travel companion. Pare down to the non-negotiables. Are you looking for quiet rejuvenation -- or exhilaration? Do you have strict budget limits -- or room to splurge? Does success mean having sun, snow, a tropical rainstorm -- or are you content with whatever comes along? Do you have "must includes" for your trip such as a food, an event -- or a language?

Secondly, review your physical health. Do it with your physician if necessary. How is your physical strength? Your stamina? Your immune system? Are you in physical pain that would influence your travel plans? Are your medications working correctly and do you have enough to bring on the trip?

What about your mental health? How is your emotional resilience? What's the recent pattern of your moods? Are your dreams or fantasy life telling you something about how you might react to travel right now?

First published at Suite101.com

Disabilities on DVD: "The Lookout"

Disabilities on DVD
With Stephen Snart

The Lookout
Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jeff Daniels, Matthew Goode, Isla Fisher, Sergio Di Zio and Bruce McGill
Written and Directed by Scott Frank
Distributor: Miramax Home Entertainment
DVD Release Date: August 14
Running Time: 99 Minutes

The Lookout is one of the year’s most exciting films; a rousing, supremely entertaining crime thriller about a bank heist. But what the marketing doesn’t divulge is that it’s much more than just a genre picture. In fact, it’s an intense character study about a young man coming to terms with a self-induced disability.

The lead character is Chris Pratt (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a one-time high school hockey superstar whose career came to a halt when a post-prom joyride ended in tragedy. He awakes from a coma to find out his moment of behind the wheel recklessness led to the demise of two of his closest friends, a permanent injury for his ex-girlfriend and saddled him with a moderate traumatic brain injury.

Four years later, Chris spends his nights as a janitor at a rural bank outside of Kansas City and his days taking classes at the independent life skills center. His disabilities are predominantly routed in his cognition and mental health. He’ll cry without knowing why, inadvertently blurt out profanity and call a juicy red fruit a lemon instead of a tomato, even though, as he puts it, he knows it’s wrong. He’s also diagnosed with a sequencing problem but his blind roommate Lewis (Jeff Daniels) assures him that he can sequence fine; he just needs to start from the end and work backwards. Like Chris, Lewis’ disability is permanent and a product of his own rashness (a methamphetamine lab explosion in his 20s) and their living situation is mutually beneficial.

Aside from Lewis, Chris finds opposition from almost everyone in his life. His haughty, affluent family doesn’t know what to do other than infantilize him. That is except for when his pompous father (Bruce McGill) takes pride in defeating Chris in a game of chess. “Would you rather I let you win?” he asks when Chris declines a rematch. Even the well-intentioned Deputy Ted (Sergio Di Zio) inadvertently crushes Chris after griping about his own newborn baby woes by callously adding: “You’re lucky you won’t have to deal with this stuff.”

Others try to capitalize on his disability. Whether it’s day-to-day stuff like the bartender who quietly collects a $17 tip due to his diminished mathematical skills or it’s more egregious like what local hoodlum named Gary Spargo (Matthew Goode) has in mind. Gary initially disarms Chris by watching out for him in the face of other opportunists and by introducing him to a beautiful pole dancer named Luvlee (Isla Fisher). After disillusioning him with false friendship and sexual relations, Gary recruits him to play the part of the lookout during his plan to rob the bank at which Chris mops the floors every night.

For as much as there are perfectly executed moments of heist-related suspense (and The Lookout contains a number of taut nail-biter’s), the emotion is always reliant upon the viewer’s sympathy for Chris. In the wrong hands, the character could have easily inspired apathy or maybe even detest considering the horrific car crash that opens the film. When Chris says that he didn’t do any prison time for his accident, another character grimly replies, “You’re doing your time now.” But the filmmakers aren’t interested in damning him for mistaking his youth for immortality. Instead, they present him as a tortured soul in search of self-retribution. One of the film’s saddest scenes shows Chris going to a bar, ordering a non-alcoholic beer and trying to scribble down pick-up lines he overhears from a more confident patron.

Much of the credit has to go to the performance by the tremendous young actor Gordon-Levitt as Chris. In one segment of the DVD’s special features entitled “Behind the Mind of Chris Pratt,” the actor states that this was the hardest role of his career. Normally, such a pact statement like from a 26-year-old actor would elicit an eye-role of pomposity but considering his previous work as a juvenile delinquent in Manic or a child sexual abuse victim in Mysterious Skin, it really is quite a testament to his regard for his role in The Lookout. Also on the DVD supplement, Gordon-Levitt expresses his concern not to make the performance morose and goes into detail about the research he did for the role, which involved spending time with real-life people suffering from similar conditions as his fictional counterpart.

It is worth continuing to reiterate how much of the film’s strength resides in its characters because it’s so rare to find characters with this depth of complexity in contemporary American genre cinema. Even the most minor of characters in the film is bestowed with careful detail. Consider a party scene in which the camera takes the time to focus on a young mother calling her child with the news that “Mama will be back in three weeks” or a dementia-addled grandfather who creeps into the room on a walker for a moment before being ushered out of sight. The one weak link in the film is the character of Luvlee, an utter cipher of whom neither the writing nor the performance give enough evidence to know whether she is a calculating femme fatale or a bubbly, air-headed victim of persuasion.

A much better example of a supporting character is Lewis. If The Lookout had been produced by a big studio (although the $16 million allocated by Miramax is still sizable), the character of Lewis would have almost certainly been excised from the script under the economy of character ethos as he serves no direct benefit to the ‘plot.’ Fortunately, the producers understood that the film is a character piece and that the beautiful friendship between Lewis and Chris is one of the film’s most winning qualities.

Curious? More Links:

Monday Movie Review: The Lookout

DVD Review: The Lookout

Cable Network GSN Launches the Without Prejudice Project

Article submitted by Day Al-Mohamed

This summer, GSN (The Network for Games) is airing Without Prejudice?, a groundbreaking new television series that features frank discussions about race, gender, religion, disabilities and a variety of hot button issues. To complement the premiere of the show, GSN launched the Without Prejudice Project, an initiative designed to help Americans address and combat prejudice in all its forms. The network is working with a coalition of social justice organizations to encourage a national conversation about prejudice in America. You can find this conversation, at www.gsn.com/withoutprejudice and catch Without Prejudice? every Tuesday at 9PM/8C.

Other Links:
Without Prejudice.....The Review
Are You "Without Prejudice"? (Video)

This Week in Sports

Written By: Jamie Lazaroff
Edited By: Bob Lazzari

Although this is a national blog, I was born and bred in New England and still reside here. It is truly a great times to be a sports fan in New England. The Red Sox are in first place and just pulled off a great deal. In basketball, it appears the Celtics are back on the map.

*First up, the Red Sox just traded for Eric Gagne of the Texas Rangers. What a pick up! I know that Gagne has been injured the last few years and has struggled lately, but he'll still be effective; having both Jonathan Papelbon and Gagne, the Sox' bullpen is all set. If the bats can get hot and the starting pitching remains fairly strong, the Red Sox will be fine and win the American League East.

*I have some questions about the Celtics' recent deals involving Kevin Gannett and Ray Allen. To get KG, the C’s had to give up many of their young players. Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green (the slam dunk champion this past year) and Sebastian Telfair are all under 22 years old. In order to obtain Ray Allen on draft day, they had to give up Delonte West--who is also under 22 and led the team in assists last year. I would have chosen to deal for KG OR Allen--not both-- because they still had All-Star Paul Pierce in their lineup. My opinion is that two star players are better than three because:

A. They may have to divide playing time.
B. They would have more young players on their roster.
C. It just makes more mathematical sense--salary-wise.

The Celtics still have Kendrick Perkins and drafted Glen Davis (Big Baby) from LSU. The immediate future is surely looking bright, but will all the pieces fit together? That will be the question.

*I’m not a fan of fantasy football because I like rooting for an existing professional team (New England Patriots) and not individual players. It may enhance the football viewing on Sundays for most people, but it’s just not for me. Speaking of the Patriots, I can see another Super Bowl championship this year. Randy Moss will fit in nicely with his new team.

*This week's spotlight comes from the Paralympics website. Paralympian Lee Pearson from Great Britain has added three more titles to his impressive career at the 2007 International Equestrian Federation (FEI) World Para Dressage Championships in Hartpury, Great Britain. Being born with arthrogryposis multiplex congenital, Lee Pearson made his competitive debut in 1998 and from there became one of the most successful riders in his class. At his first Paralympic Games in Sydney in 2000, he won three gold medals and did so as well in Athens in 2004. Even though his horse Blue Circle Boy had retired before the 2007 FEI World Para Dressage Championships, he once again won every competition he competed in. Lee has been nominated several times for the Laures World Sport Award and also for the Eurosport Sport Star Award, which he won in 2004. In May 2007, he became the first chairman of the FEI Athletes Committee. Career Highlights:

· Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games – Three gold medals
· Athens 2004 Paralympic Games – Three gold medals
· 2007 FEI World Para Dressage Championships – Three gold medals

That’s my take; I would like to hear yours.

Jamie Lazaroff

Dream Mom has a Dear Son

On her blog: Dream Mom, this "single parent of a special needs child" submitted a post to the most recent Disability Blog Carnival found at David's site. She titled it "Top Ten Things Dear Son Has Taught Me". Here is the first:

10. He taught me that children with disabilities are not children to be afraid of, but rather, children to celebrate. They are the children who will cherish all the love, kindness and happiness that you bestow upon them, not once in a while, but every time they look you in the eye.

After having read the other nine things Dear Son taught Dream Mom, Ruth commented: "Wonderful list - very powerful and moving."

Ruth is right about that.

Managing Perception is Key to Success

Buzzing in the Workplace

By: Rob Roy

While some might still consider me ‘fresh’ in the workplace, the past couple years have provided me with wisdom that has left horizontal impressions on my forehead! The growth I’ve experienced was most evident to me when I met a group of new hires who recently began working at my firm. I recognized the gleam of enthusiasm and anticipation in their eyes and the innocence of their smiles – a familiar look I know I had two years ago.

If I could share my nugget of wisdom with the new hires, I would tell them the following: managing perception is key to success.

What do I mean? How people perceive you in the office and how confident you feel about your contribution to your team ultimately impact the substance of work you receive as well as the availability of opportunities that can advance your career. With substantial work and solid opportunities, you are well equipped to demonstrate potential that (I hope) will lead to a promotion.

So, how to begin managing perception? (Obviously, it is easier said then done.) The following five tips have worked well for me and my co-workers:

Praise in public and criticize constructively in private. When a peer does well leading a team meeting or presentation, congratulate them on doing a good job. If an organizational process has improved, commend the person in charge of leading the change. When feeling disgruntled because of a policy change or the printer doesn’t print correctly, leave the criticism for you to discuss with your manager. Avoid raising any criticism in front of a large group.

Act engaged at all times. Ask good questions - even if you think you know the answer – and follow-up with additional insight or observation on what you learned. Active participation shows you are not a silent observer and that you are engaged in the content of your job. Be wary though – peers often recognize and dislike excessive participation. Don’t go overboard!

Always know the next step. Understand the different responsibilities between your current and any future position you desire. Seek out opportunities to demonstrate capability for tasks that are part of the next job. Perform these responsibilities well and utilize peers for guidance and direction when uncertain about how to approach the tasks.

Work on ad hoc projects or participate on a task force. Extra points are usually earned when you participate on a task force or ad hoc project outside the scope of your day to day responsibilities. However, it is important to be proactive about finding a project or task force as it typically doesn’t drop in your lap. You could participate on anything as big as a team devoted to positively impacting how your company is structured to as little as creating a committee that plans out-of-office social events.

Record, record, and … yes, record. Keep a documented log of your project work and a description of your contribution to each project. Focus on contributions that positively impact the business. Share the log when moving to a new team or transitioning to a new manager to demonstrate your experience and manage your new leader’s expectations. Also, reference this list – strategically, of course – when approaching your performance review to ensure the scope of your accomplishments are captured in your review.

Cheers to all you new hires that are beginning your careers and best of luck! May you strategically manage perception and have a year filled with success!

Cross-posted on The Journey

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David Hosts Disability Blog Carnival # 21

David is Growing up with a Disability and believes "society often underestimates the complexity of living with a disability - the joys, the challenges, the ordinary, and the extraordinary."

As host of the Disability Blog Carnival this month, he warns David Letterman to "move over" because "here come the bloggers!"

"The topic for this carnival is Top Ten Lists, and people put together a variety of lists on a variety of topics."

David, we've never seen you in a double-breasted suit like Letterman wears, but we bet you're equally as dashing! Audience, don't you agree?

As per David:

"The next carnival will be hosted by Reimer Reason on September 13, with entries due by September 10. Posts can be submitted via the carnival site. Update - Penny says the theme is "Resilience".

Cross-posted on the Planet of the Blind

Meet Columnist Bob Lazzari

Bob Lazzari is an award-winning sports columnist for Connecticut's Valley Times and NY Sports Day; he also contributes a daily sportscast to SportingNewsCT.com and is a member of the Connecticut Sports Writers' Alliance. He will be editing Jamie Lazaroff's column on a regular basis while occasionally adding some material of his own.

How do you measure happiness?

Written by Scott Rains, Senior Advisor, [with]tv and editor of the Rolling Rains Report

It may sound absurd to put “measurement” and “happiness” together like that. What’s next? People saying, “I’ll take 2 pounds of happiness please?”

Actually, the travel industry is beginning to ask itself for a “happiness metric.” In an industry that successfully markets dreams and sells experience, quantifying the ineffable does not seem to be a goal beyond reach. Innovation is beginning to characterize an industry as it takes up the causes of ecological sustainability, equitable treatment of its employees, and inclusion of seniors and people with disabilities.

Thailand, drawing on concepts from Bhutan, seems to be taking the lead in exploring happiness as a new benchmark. The core concept is a complement to the economic measurement of Gross National Product. It is Gross National Happiness.

A conference on the topic was held in Bangkok, Thailand July 18 & 19, 2007. According to the organizers of this conference, “Happiness and Public Policy”:

As happiness is the ultimate goal of human beings, development paradigm needs a rethinking. Development goal is not only an economic prosperity – which is only a material mean for happiness, but development should also be conceptualized as an instrumental goal of happiness. Higher levels of human happiness involve other factors such as physical, mental, social and spiritual happiness. Public policy, therefore, plays a key role to improve conditions of happiness at all levels of people in the society.

Looking ahead to the 3rd International Conference on Gross National Happiness scheduled for November 22 to 28, 2007 also in Bangok

The launching of the concept of Gross National Happiness in the global arena has induced a growing movement calling for transformation of conventional development policies and practices at all levels. By placing ‘happiness' at the center of development the current obsession by economic growth, measured by Gross National (or Domestic) Product, has been fundamentally challenged… Efforts are made to better understand and to monitor happiness. Well-being indexes serve public policy development, in order to counter wealth-dominated, unsustainable, globalization.

Reporting on these developments in Travel Impact Newswire, Imtiaz Muqbil, writes:

[This is] possibly the first time this subject [Happiness and Public Policy] has been covered in the travel trade media, it will quickly gain traction. Branding gurus will latch on to it, conferences will feature it and industry experts will seek to outdo each other with the perfect solutions and answers. If that happens, and the world becomes even a slightly better and more happy place, the purpose of this dispatch will have been well-served.

The full set of conference papers can be found at: http://www.ppdoconference.org

Let’s hope that the gurus of happiness study the sutras of Universal Design. Let the good times roll!

Meet Columnist Rob Roy

Rob Roy is an Analyst for the Nielsen Company, a leading provider of marketing information and business media services, where he advises clients on new product innovation and execution strategies. A native of Chicago, Rob received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

When not working, Rob likes to ride his bike, hang out at the beach with his dog, and spend time wondering what is Buzzing in the Workplace.

You can also visit Rob on his new blog: The Journey, Evolving and Enduring - Empowering People Through Disability Learning

Meet Columnist Jamie Lazaroff

Jamie Lazaroff is an aspiring sportscaster who has reported for television extensively for Special Olympics International and CT, covering events that include the Special Olympic World Games, for which he received a 1995 New England EMMY nomination. He has also co-hosted several cable television shows in Connecticut. In addition, Jamie was actively involved in the Special Olympics Global Messenger Program through which he trained other athletes for the Special Olympics and speaking engagements.

Meet Columnist Michael A. Harris

Michael A. Harris is a prominent disability advocate and the founder and executive director of the Disabled Riders Coalition, the tri-state area's only disability advocacy organization focused solely on transportation issues. His work as an advocate has won him international recognition and he makes frequent appearances on local, national and international media. Michael also works as a freelance writer and photographer and has had his work published in amNewYork, Courier Life, Able News and the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. He is currently employed part-time in the office of New York State Assemblyman Micah Z. Kellner. Michael is a recent graduate of Manhattanville College, where he majored in political science and journalism.

Meet Columnist Anna Bergholtz

Anna Bergholtz is a Swedish freelance journalist, motivational speaker and the first blind film critic of Sweden. Web Page (soon to be in English): http://www.annasvision.se/

The Day I Became Different

Written by Laura of Bums & Bellybuttons: The View From Here
(Cross-posted with permission)

I don't have an actual memory of the day I realized I was different. It's more of a created memory, bred from hearing the story more than once and analyzing the event objectively. Up until this particular point, I lived in blissful ignorance. I can't say with any certainty that I even knew, at the time, what "different" meant.

Today, it's multi-zillion dollar affairs thrown by guilt-laden parents hoping to earn the affection of their entitled children. In the '90s, it was Chuck E. Cheese. But, in the '80s, the happenin' birthday party spot for the under-10 set was McDonald's. I know; I was there. I must have attended a large handful of these parties, always fearful that the clown mascot would suddenly appear. (Hey, clowns are scary. Deal with it.)

At one of these parties, when I was about 5, I learned that I was different. When I entered the restaurant with my parents, a young boy (about my age, I guess) stood up and repeatedly announced to the entire population, "She's in a wheelchair!" Needless to say, staring commenced. Pairs and pairs of eyes swiveling toward me, a little girl, cute in her party dress, suddenly not the girl she was five seconds before she came through the door. Even thinking about it 20 years later makes me want to claw my skin.

It had never occurred to me to realize that sitting down made me fundamentally different than just about everyone I encountered. No one else seemed to notice, so why should I? My parents didn't make a big deal out of it, unless it was for my own physical safety. It just was as it was.

I believe that boy, unknown to him the great power he wielded, changed my life. Sure, my perception would have altered sooner or later, but he happened to be the lucky one to draw that card from the deck of my life. His inexplicable and unexpected assertion that being a wheelchair user was somehow "wrong" robbed me of the innocent nature most children possess. The belief that everyone is just a good/bad/indifferent as everyone else.

I have done my best to re-instill that belief in my mind. For the most part, I do believe that, unless they prove otherwise, all people are just as worthy as all other people. And yet, there is this twinge from time to time at the back of my mind that says, "Except for you." Now, the part of my brain that doesn't listen to what other people say or pay attention to what other people do blows this off with a flip of the wrist. The rest of my brain dredges up 26 years worth of stares, name calling, rude questions and all-around "make you feel different" stuff.

I wonder from time to time if that boy, whomever he was, carries around any memory whatsoever of me. I doubt it, seeing as how I can't even recall the Day That Changed My Life. I wonder what he would think if he did remember. Would he feel guilty for stomping all over my rose-colored glasses? Would he blow it off with a flip of his wrist, rationalizing that it would have happened sooner or later? Would he care at all? Or, as I fear, is he one of those people who don't believe I'm as good as any girl on two legs?

Calling All Bloggers...and everyone else

Dear Friends,

As a volunteer working with the folks at [with]tv I have recently been honored with the title “blog master”. In that capacity I am writing to disability bloggers I know and respect to ask for support. I (we) are hoping you would be willing to either write a post, submit a post you’ve already written, or even join us as a “columnist” and submit posts whenever the mood strikes.

Posts can be submitted to my attention at articles@with-tv.com. This blog is a work in progress and I (we) sure would appreciate your support. While you’re here, please sign the Guest Book and let us know what you think. We’re working hard to spread the word. Anything you can do to help would surely give us a boost!

Thank you,

Connie Kuusisto
Blog Master, [with]tv

P.S. A person need not be a blogger to submit articles to [with]tv or to sign the Guest Book. Anyone interested in the topic of disability is encouraged to participate.

Cross-posted on the Planet of the Blind

Support [with]tv

[with]tv would like your show of support to demonstrate to our potential corporate partners, advertisers and investors that there is not only a need for our service, but strong American and International support for our programming. Please read the support letter, click on "Guest Book" below, and fill out the form.

________________________________________________________________________

Howard Renensland
CEO and Founder
[with]tv

Dear Mr. Renensland:

I would like to express my wholehearted support for [with]tv’s mission of providing accessible television and Internet programming that, while appealing to broader markets, is focused on providing high quality, news and entertainment programming that meets the needs and interests of persons with disabilities, and those committed to them personally, professionally, and commercially.

People with disabilities have a global need as individuals and as a community for access to information, employment, artistic expression, and control of their image. The disability community, which in the United States alone is 54 million strong with a discretionary income of $220 billion, is a grossly underutilized source of both talent and market share for companies, making [with]tv a win-win solution for individuals, society, and business.

I intend to support your content, partners, and advertisers in every way possible. I congratulate you on the work that you and your colleagues at [with]tv have done thus far and wish you the best of luck going forward. Please keep me informed of your progress and let me know if I may be of any further assistance.

To show your support of [with]tv, please sign our Guest Book.

Meet Columnist Connie Kuusisto

Connie Kuusisto has worked for over twenty years in the world of guide dogs and their blind partners, first as a Trainer/Instructor, then as Manager of Admissions at Guiding Eyes for the Blind, one of the premier guide dog training programs in the United States. She co-founded, with her husband Stephen Kuusisto, Kaleidoscope Connections, a resource for bringing people together to help promote disability awareness. Together they've worked with a wide range of businesses, including Sandals and Beaches resorts in Jamaica, where they've given workshops on customer service for people with disabilities.

You can visit Connie and Steve on their blog: Planet of the Blind

He's Blind. I Married Him Anyway.

Written by: Connie Kuusisto

Note to reader: I had written this post back in January and was thinking of submitting it for use on this blog. Then I read Laurie Rubin's terrific post, Two Invitations, and realized now is as good a time as any to follow up with mine...

The world is full of perfectly lovely, well-intentioned, but in some ways, clueless people. Admit it. There are people in your life who, as much as you care for them and they you, could use a little "disability awareness" training. There are also people who are ignorant. And there are those who are just plain mean. I won't make the claim that I've "seen it all", but as a former guide dog instructor / manager of admissions at a highly regarded guide dog school, I've seen and heard plenty. As have you I'm sure.

A few years ago I was asked, as a member of a local women's group, to be on the nominating committee for the next year's "officers". I was the youngest person in the room. I was, I'm pretty sure, one of the two youngest women in the entire club. I'm talking decades here. I assure you the other women in the room did not attend school in an age when children with disabilities were "mainstreamed" into public schools. Nor had they ever given much thought, I'm sure, to the concept that they themselves might only be temporarily "abled". Time was no longer on their side..

Before the meeting started, I was enjoying small talk with one perfectly lovely woman; I'll call her "Alice". Alice eventually revealed that she had heard from "Betty" that my husband was blind. Really? Can he see anything? Does he work? Well how does he get to work? Really? How did he go blind? Really? Was he blind when you married him? OH REALLY!!

Well it just so happens that my husband is, among other things, a talented writer and I'll take any opportunity I can to plug his book "Planet of the Blind" (including this one!). So I gave Alice the particulars and suggested she ought to read it. "Oh isn't that nice. Oh I will read it! Thank you for telling me about it...." And then, just as we were being interrupted by the announcement that the meeting was coming to order she said, almost under her breath, "So. He's blind and you married him anyway...." *Smile* Alice fell into the "perfectly lovely, well-intentioned, but in some ways, clueless people" category. She didn't mean to sound insensitive. I know she didn't. She's far too nice.

Is that what people think? Was this sweet little grey-haired old lady just voicing what everyone else thinks? Oh if they only knew. To quote Ralph James Savarese in his soon to be released book: Reasonable People: a Memoir of Autism and Adoption, she "underestimated what a relationship is, conceiving of disability only as deficits."

You see, I was married once before. I call my ex my "insignificant other". My insignificant other could see just fine. He could mow the lawn in straight lines. He could drive to the corner store for milk. He could change the oil in the car and make sure the tires were inflated properly. And I'll say it hear and now, he was the neatest roommate I've ever had. On Saturday mornings we'd do housework together. Let me tell you, he was meticulous. Not a crumb could you find in the kitchen. Not a Labrador hairball could you find on the floor when he was done. Oh he was fine in that regard! Oh, but if only he could have been a friend. If only he could have been loyal.

Several years later I met Steve. My two young children didn't seem to notice he was blind. My parents met him, liked him immediately, and didn't care. Neither did my friends. Most of them had been guide dog trainers too. We had a small wedding ceremony in Jamaica. We call it our "family-moon" because my children and all four of our parents spent most of the week there with us.

So here we are ten years later. Steve can mow the lawn, but I prefer it when he doesn't. I like a lawn to look mowed when it's done. I'm fussy that way. Steve can go to the corner store for milk - he walks. It's too close to drive anyway. I should walk there with him. It's true, he is not the neatest *roommate* I have ever had. He fails to see the crumbs on the kitchen counter and yes, what with three dogs, more often than not there are Labrador hair tumbleweeds everywhere, even after he vacuums. I am fussy. But that is my problem, not the fact that my husband can't see. I mow the lawn now, but in exchange for taking on that chore, I've got a true friend. I've traded crumbs on the kitchen counter for loyalty. I've left the life of a single Mom behind for a life of adventure with a man who's taken me to San Fransisco, Jamaica, London, Helsinki, Milan, Venice, Hawaii...

As for Steve, he traded his days as a bachelor for life with a fusspot and her two teenagers. Can you imagine? A fusspot and not one, but two teenagers!

Yes, Steve is blind. And borrowing these words from Jane Eyre: "Reader, I married him."

Cross-posted on Planet of the Blind

Meet Columnist Dr. Scott Rains, Senior Advisor, [with]tv

Dr. Scott Rains, Senior Advisor, [with]tv as well as Executive Producer, Catching the 9:05 [with]tv, is also editor of Rolling Rains Report, a website for dialogue on travel, disability, and universal design. Dr. Rains holds a B.A. in Linguistics from the University of Washington, an M.A. in Pastoral Ministry from Seattle University, and a D. Min. in Pastoral Ministry from the Graduate Theological Foundation in South Bend, Indiana.

Travel Feeds the Experience Economy

Written by: Dr. Scott Rains, Rolling Rains Report

The travel industry knows that it is the quintessential purveyor of positive experience. Destination wedding travel sells the romantic experience. Adventure travel sells the adrenaline experience. Volunteer travel sells the engaged experience. Business travel sells the efficient experience.

What do you experience when the experience you paid for meets your expectations? Satisfaction? Happiness? A desire to do it again?

Good businesses pay attention to customer satisfaction. Focus groups, surveys, mystery shoppers, and common courtesy are all best practice aids to achieve customer satisfaction. Goals are set. Targets are achieved. Customer satisfaction is measured.

Why value customer satisfaction? Well, except for sand in your shoes, a couple extra inches around the waist, and a bunch of mementos, it is that sense of happiness attached to memories of a good trip that is the lasting “product”.

Thinking of experience as product is second nature to the travel and hospitality industry.

B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore wrote the book Experience Economy in 1999.

In it they classify businesses on a spectrum building on commodity markets and progressing through goods, services, experience, and on to transformation businesses. It’s not a big step for businesses in the travel sector to move from selling experience to selling transformation.

To the extent that the industry respects people with disabilities as valued customers, through the application of the seven principles of Universal Design, they will want the experience; they will buy the product. Research from the Open Doors Organization, among others, shows that people with disabilities have the desire, the means, and the time to travel. Given the scarcity of products tailored to people with disabilities the outcome of a well-executed itinerary is almost always transformative for travelers in a market segment hungry for quality travel experience.

Meet Columnist Jennifer Justice

Jennifer Justice is an artist, writer and independent publisher. She is the creator of two popular ezines, Pedestrian Hostile and This Is Living, and has served as a contributor and editor to numerous publications, writing on art, disability rights, technology and feminism. Jennifer studied art and literature at the University of Illinois and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, earning an MFA in 2005. Her paintings and installations are exhibited nationally. Jennifer has worked as a content developer, disability rights advocate and art instructor.

Unsicht Unseen

Written by: Jennifer Justice
Today I received an email from a friend who is working in Germany. He wanted to know if I'd like to dine at Unsicht - Bar in Berlin during my vacation, scheduled for late fall. For some reason, I'd thought this restaurant was located in the UK - perhaps there is one like it there. I believe there's one located on the west coast too - owned and operated by a blind chef if my memory serves.

By "like it" I mean a restaurant with a truly unique twist. Patrons dine in total darkness, experiencing elegant three - and - four course meals elegantly served by blind/ visually impaired waiters.

Unsicht- Bar (meaning invisible or unseeable) has locations in Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne and should not be confused with Blindekuh (the Blind Cow), a restaurant with locations in Zurich and Basel. According to Wikipedia, Blindekuh was established by the Swiss - German Blind- Leicht Foundation to create employment opportunities for blind people in the food service industry. The name comes from the German equivalent of the game Blind Man's Bluff. I've yet to translate the German language press releases about Unsicht - Bar to determine if it too is a Blind - Leicht project. Obviously this is a story which begs more research and a first- hand account (I love it when research involves food)!

The Unsicht - Bar website explains that meals and table settings are arranged to coordinate to the numbers on a clock face. Fair enough, I can see how this might help the uninitiated sighted person to navigate their first meal in the dark. However, the site also notes that the food is prepared in bite- sized portions so that visitors don't have to worry about cutting their food!

As someone with a vision impairment, I find this consideration amusing as well as a wee bit troubling. It reminded me of a time hanging out at a friend's house when I was nine. My friend's mom made us lunch. Setting the plate in front of me, she picked a knife and began cutting the food for me! We tried to laugh it off- my friend had certainly eaten with me enough to know I could cut my own food. But her mom made an assumption based on damaging misconceptions of what blind/ visually impaired people are thought to be able to do.

I remember her mom getting really embarrassed and hurriedly saying something like, "Oh I'm so used to cutting other people's food, I don't know when to stop!" My friend offered that she still tried to cut up her food at times as well, but it was a weak cover up.

I'm quite sure I could cut a steak or debone a fish without looking. But then, I've relied on my sense of touch much longer than Unsicht - Bar's sited patrons. For me, touch has always been an integral component and ally to seeing. For years I thought that everyone linked sight to touch like I did, that if you love art and aesthetics then you're a sensualist to boot. I now know that isn't necessarily the case. Perhaps Unsicht's boneless/ knifeless policy is nothing more than a bit of hand- holding intended for ambivalent guests, the clock face analogy extended to touch- phobic foodies who want to know exactly what they're putting in their mouths.

It just so happens that Eastern Europe is flecked with diamonds- in- the- rough tourist attractions of particular interest to PWDs and "With-" minded folk. Other sites on my Hit List: the Kasper Hauser Museum in Ansbach, Germany for a peak into a decidedly intriguing passage in the history of early specialized education. Too bad I won't be there in time for the festival held in Hauser's honor each September.

I'm beginning to think that Ansbach just may be my spiritual home, as their other major attraction is none other than the extravagant Rococo Festival held in July. I'll take any excuse to dress up in skirts and big hair! I am a southern girl at heart.

Visual description: A double portrait of Kasper Hauser, in bronze or possibly iron, stands in a cobble stone square. The figure in the foreground has a disheveled appearance and stands with head cast downward. He holds a battered satchel in one hand and a letter in the other. The companion figure in the background is poised and finely dressed. His hat lies on the ground at his feet, as if knocked off or lost in some unseen disturbance.

Cross-posted at Pedestrian Hostile

Andrea's Buzzing About: Being "ON HOLIDAY"!

Andrea's Buzzing About: the Disability Blog Carnival # 20 she's titled "ON HOLIDAY!"

Andrea has put this carnival together in a very clever narrative that almost makes you feel like you're there. She's set up a "buffet" and invites us all to help ourselves, then stake out "spots in the shade or a place to soak up some of the abundant warm sunshine. "Do try some of the brownies — I got the recipe from Gluten-Free Girl and they are fabulous..." she says.

If you're ready to take a little holiday of your own, this edition of the Disability Blog Carnival is the perfect place to start. But don't forget the bug spray!

You will find links to other Disability Blog Carnivals: past, present and future here.

(Visual description of black & white photo: a man and a small boy are standing side by side on the shore overlooking a body of water and a bridge in the distance. The man's right let has been amputated. He's leaning on his right crutch; the boy has a hold of the crutch in his left hand in a kind of affectionate gesture.)

Cross-posted at Planet of the Blind

Meet Columnist Stephen Kuusisto

Stephen Kuusisto is the author of Only Bread, Only Light a collection of poems from Copper Canyon Press and of the memoirs Planet of the Blind and Eavesdropping.

He holds a dual appointment at the University of Iowa where he is Professor of English and teaches courses in creative nonfiction and where he also serves as a public humanities scholar in the University’s College of Medicine. Kuusisto speaks widely on creative writing, diversity, disability, education, and public policy. His essays and poems have appeared in numerous anthologies and literary magazines including Harper’s; The New York Times Magazine; Poetry; and Partisan Review. He has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show; Dateline NBC; The Leeza Gibbons Show; The BBC; The Voice of America; “Talk of the Nation” on National Public Radio and The Arts & Entertainment Network

web site: www.stephenkuusisto.com

blog: Planet of the Blind

The History of My Shoes: Field Work with Body and Soul

Book Review
by Stephen Kuusisto

(cross-posted on The Planet of the Blind)

The History of My Shoes and the Evolution of Darwin’s Theory
By Kenny Fries
Carroll and Graf

Kenny Fries has ghosts on his shoulders and ghosts in his shoes. It is precisely because of this that the narrator of this important book is a shaman of culture and history. Kenny Fries is speaking for all of us, even if we don’t know it yet. Readers may initially think this is a disability memoir but it is really a post-Victorian narrative about Darwin’s strange legacy in our world of real bodies.

Arriving at the tuff of the Galapagos Islands Fries sees the graffiti carved into the hillside by two centuries of mariners. And he reads the names for us. We are in the company of travelers who have followed the course of Charles Darwin’s famous voyage and whose only writing remains as stark and meaningless as uncatalogued bones.

Enter poetry. Lyric poetry. Subjective experience. The story of a singular body.

Fries walks with damaged legs and wears custom made orthopedic shoes as he follows the path of Darwin’s literal and figurative voyage—and like Darwin he travels because customary ideas are in need of re-examination.

A friend of mine in my undergraduate days at Hobart College once observed that “there’s the real Darwin and then there are the Sears & Roebuck Darwins…” The latter are of course the purveyors of faulty social ideas and certainly people with disabilities have been the sad inheritors of same. The late Victorian obsession with eugenics comes to mind.

The History of My Shoes is a poet’s eye look at Darwin’s world of ideas and it is simultaneously a book about inhabiting a body that requires hourly adaptations both of mind and of physical practice. This is a narrative that works against method as Darwin once worked against method and the rewards are manifested on page after page. This is a groundbreaking book for those who are interested in the history of ideas and the corresponding history of the human body.

Meet Columnist Stephen Snart

Stephen Snart is a film critic for The L Magazine and TheCinemaSource.com. He holds a B.A. in Cinema Studies from New York University and is currently pursuing a MA in Contemporary Cinema Cultures at King's College, London. Links to his reviews can be found at fluxingphilosophic.blogspot.com.

Disabilities at the Multiplex: Rocket Science

Disabilities at the Multiplex
with Stephen Snart

Rocket Science


Starring Reece Daniel Thompson, Anna Kendrick, Nicholas D’Agosto, Vincent Piazza and Denis O’Hare
Written and Directed by Jeffrey Blitz
Distributor: Picturehouse Entertainment
Release Date: August 10 (select cities)
Running Time: 100 Minutes

Quirky coming of age tales are a dime a dozen in the world of American independent cinema, but Rocket Science – the story of a stuttering high school student who decides to join the debate team – is worthy of singling out from the rest of the crowd. Feature film neophyte Reece Daniel Thompson plays the lead role of Hal Hefner, a shy teenager who knows all the answers in his English class but dares not raise his hand because of his debilitating stutter. His visits to the school’s special education teacher – who’s only been trained to deal with hyperactivity – prove largely unfruitful. At lunchtime, no matter how often he rehearses: “I’d like the pizza,” when stared down by the lunch lady he finds himself unable to formulate the words and gets dealt with a congealed piece of unidentifiable fish.

His stutter isn’t any better at home, an area just as unstable and unwelcoming as the high school halls. His negligent, solipsistic mother (Lisbeth Bartlett) drove his exasperated father (Denis O’Hare) out during his early teenage years and his kleptomaniac older brother Earl (Vincent Piazza) is fond of berating Hal at any chance. But Earl’s not completely sinister; his anger is suggested to be an expression of the social torment of high school he is feeling himself.

No doubt inspired by the work of Wes Anderson, the film comes equipped with an anonymous narrator who chimes in from time to time. He sets the stage in the film’s opening scene in which we see bowtie clad motor mouth Ben (Nicholas D’Agosto) effortlessly spewing out a carefully constructed speech at the New Jersey State Debate Challenge. The omniscient narrator clues us in that this seemingly innocuous moment in which the top debater suddenly loses his gift of gab will turn out to be one of cosmic interconnectedness for Hal. Inexplicably silenced, Ben is shamed in front of the whole debating community and slinks off into obscurity.

Ben’s former debate partner and girlfriend, the self-assured Ginny Ryerson (Anna Kendrick), is determined to win the next year’s contest despite the setback and thus ferrets out Hal to be her next partner. She’s undeterred by his severe case of stuttering, convinced he has the right kind of brain for the job.
Rocket Science’s remarkable charm is routed in its ability to combine a light and breezy tone with an acute awareness of the caustic realities of adolescence. The film doesn’t offer any fairy tale endings or unrealistic solutions to problems like marriage crisis, teen angst or speech impediments; instead it embraces the harshness of real world truisms while presenting them as obstacles that can be dealt with, if not necessarily overcome.

The humor of Rocket Science is biting but not cruel. Unlike the nasty Napoleon Dynamite (another Sundance success) which ridiculed its lead character mercilessly because of his implied mental condition, Hal’s disability is never a source of the film’s humor. Sure, Hal is put in a few of predicaments squarely designed by the filmmakers to elicit laughter but the audience is not asked to laugh at Hal because he has a stutter but rather because he is simply a pubescent teenage boy. In contrast, the scenes in which his affliction is most pronounced are filmed with stark sincerity to evoke empathy and not mockery: a preliminary debate scene is filmed from multiple angles while the words that Hal is unable to vocalize materialize behind him on a chalkboard.

Part of the reason Rocket Science succeeds so winningly is the film’s protagonist is genial without being cloy. A large part of this is due to the engaging performance by Thompson, who bears the puppy dog eyes and pronounced nose of Luke Wilson and the nubile charm of Lou Taylor Pucci in Thumbsucker. But not to be unnoticed is writer/director Jeffrey Blitz (director of the acclaimed documentary Spellbound) who carefully constructs the film so that his subject is neither pitied nor valorized. Instead he is regarded as an average teenage boy struggling to find his place in the confusing and treacherous world of adolescence.

(Photo above shows that of a young man, dressed in jacket and tie and holding some papers, standing in front of a classroom. Behind him is a blackboard; there are two students sitting to his right.)

View movie trailer here...

Meet Columnist Laurie Rubin

Laurie Rubin is a mezzo-soprano who has sung at The Kennedy Center, The White House, and Carnegie Hall. Born blind, Ms. Rubin has always advocated for people with disabilities. She serves as Director of Curriculum in PWdBC' s Summer Institute of The Performing Arts. You can visit her personal web site at http://laurie-rubin.com/.

TWO INVITATIONS

Written By: Laurie Rubin

Before my Bat Mitzvah in 1991, there were several preparations that needed to be made. My mother and I spent a better part of the year making arrangements. We planned the menu with the caterer, we went shopping for the perfect dress, we organized people into tables based on who they knew, who they'd get along with, etc.

Though we spent a majority of our time and energy planning the celebration itself, one of the most significant things for us to do was to create the invitations. This would be the first thing people would see. It would be a glimpse of what was to come, the hard work I had done to learn the prayers and lead a service, my first step into womanhood, and a heck of a party we were going to have afterwards.

We hired a calligrapher who spent lots of time explaining the different invitations and their backgrounds. Once we had settled on one, she began to write out what we wanted printed on the invitation. With tremendous skill and detail, she turned the words into art, and the simple sentence, "You are invited to the Bat Mitzvah of our daughter Laurie Gale" took on a colorful and rich meaning.

It is now 15 years later, and today, I received an interesting phone call from my mother. She informed me that my second cousin was about to be Bar Mitzvahed, and that we were invited to the celebration. The invitation read, "To Lilly Rubin and Guest, Brian Rubin and Guest, and Laurie Rubin". I was taken aback by what I had just heard. My mother had been invited with a guest as she was now divorced and expected to be dating; my older brother was invited with a guest. Yet I, almost 30, was not expected to bring a guest. Oh sure, if I had mentioned I would indeed be bringing a guest to the parents of the Bar Mitzvah, they would have been happy to welcome them. However, the initial assumption that nobody would be attending with me, and that I would simply be joining my other coupled family members was like a glass of ice cold water being splashed on my face.

I now had tangible proof on paper of something I had always suspected, that I as a blind woman I am not seen as a viable mate. My acquaintances and relatives would not think to set me up with their dear friend's single child. Believe you me, I was always happy to be exempt from such an uncomfortable exchange. Being forced on a blind date with an equally unenthusiastic person never appealed to me. My poor brother got such a proposition from friends of my parents several times. Part of me felt invisible knowing I was never thought of as a woman who wanted to have a family and to care for a life partner.

I hear similar stories from other blind people. They often tell me that they have joined some on-line dating websites along with their sighted peers. They tell me they feel like magicians because as soon as the blindness is mentioned, their prospective matches perform the most incredible disappearing acts every time.

"Why is this so?" you may ask. "What is wrong with a blind partner?"

My answer is in between the lines of two invitations. The fancy curlicues of the writing, the satin finish of the paper, the words, "You are invited to our daughter, Laurie Gale's Bat Mitzvah" made me feel my budding womanhood, my growing interest in loving someone, in noticing my own body and mind flourishing. The possibilities in life seemed endless. I also really enjoyed picking out the invitation and deciding its style because though I can't see, my understanding of things that are visual makes me feel creative, and helps me express who I am. It is also the side of me that made me become a jewelry designer, and someone who loves to play with make-up and shop for funky clothes.

Those who know me admired the calligraphy. The people who understand me realize that I and other blind people are great friends, great at our fields of expertise, have a lot to contribute in life, and that we would make great life partners.

As I went through the difficult years of high school, I ran into a lot of people who subscribed to the likes of the invitation I received today where Laurie Rubin, sans guest, was invited to a celebration where it is expected that everyone else would be bringing their significant others. People expect their partners to take care of them physically as well as emotionally. Their image of blindness is of the person they become when they're fumbling in the dark frantically for their glasses. They are not familiar with the blind person who is well seasoned, well traveled, and well adapted.

The juxtaposition of these two invitations carries over into the work place. In a twenty minute interview where the employer is so interested in a person who can best get the job done, all they often see in a blind applicant are the intimidating questions, "How will he use a computer? How will she get to work every day without being able to drive? How will he find his way around the office?"

One lady I know who is a social worker told us about the hard road she traveled when looking for her first social work job. She had gotten incredible grades in college, had gotten glowing recommendations from the people she worked for during her internship, and was really destined for a rewarding career. She said she would never forget her first interview which was very
uncomfortable. Because of her social worker's intuition and talent for putting people at ease, she gently confronted her interviewer as she could tell he had some discomfort with her. At that moment, she said she heard the sound of his leather chair as he readjusted, deciding how he was going to put what was on his mind. After a pause, he said, "I' not sure how you will fit in around here. How will you even find the bathroom?"

So here was this poised young woman, ready for success, and all the prospective employer could see was a blind person. She has since found many wonderful positions, is happily married, and has a teenaged son.

As a jewelry designer, classical singer, and writer who happens to be blind, it is my job to provide people with a multi-faceted image of a blind person. It is my pleasure to educate people one by one as they see me walking independently with my guide dog and do mundane things in my every day life that they would never expect from a blind person. It is my privilege to have been born blind so I can feel the joy of seeing the lights go on in people's heads as they get to know me as a person in my work life and personal life so that I can make things easier for those in my situation who will come after me.

Preparing the invitations for my Bat Mitzvah that I would send out to the guests was full of that same creative energy I want to send out to the world in expressing myself as an individual who is so much more than blind. With more invitations like mine being sent out, I think we will see fewer and fewer of the kind I received today.

While on the phone, my mom and I had a good laugh as we do over many little things in life. She pointed out how ironic it is the two unattached people, my mother and brother, were invited with guests, and that I who am living with my life partner was invited without a guest. The most important thing in life is to be able to laugh at something like this invitation, to have a wonderful sense of humor about yourself, and to enjoy life with all the stuff it brings you.

Disabilities at the Multiplex : You Kill Me

Disabilities at the Multiplex
with Stephen Snart

You Kill Me

Low-budget late June limited release You Kill Me is the latest offering in the line of “hitman facing a personal crisis” movies - a breed of comedy-drama-action films that create a character with an occupation as intangible and foreign as contract killer and saddle him with more relatable problems like moral angst or divorce. Recently, two very effective comedies – The Matador and The Whole Nine Yards – mined this territory with great results, one through sensitivity and the other through hilarity (Meanwhile in the world of television, The Sopranos reigns supreme). John Dahl’s You Kill Me is somewhat different from the aforementioned titles in that coming to terms with the act of murder is not the film’s central crisis. Instead, the contract killing element has surprisingly little to do with the film, making way for an unexpectedly heartfelt look at a different human disease: alcoholism.

Acting legend Ben Kingsley plays Frank Falenczyk, the alcoholic hitman at the center of the narrative. Early in the film, Frank gets too drunk during an assignment and passes out, allowing an important target to slip past him unharmed. The local gangsters he works for (led by Phillip Baker Hall) ship him out to San Francisco under the strict orders to detoxify before going back to work. He attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings begrudgingly and is loath to give himself up to the group hug dynamic of tearful attestations and respectful attention but after a few meetings he begins to lower his protective shield.

At the behest of his sweet-natured AA sponsor, Tom (a natural role for the affable Luke Wilson), Frank eventually musters the courage to take the podium and introduce himself to the group. He speaks with startling honesty, divulging his identity as an assassin without a moment’s hesitation. During this lynchpin scene, Frank informs his fellow AA members that all he’s ever been good at is killing people. Alcohol has always been a part of his life, he explains, it didn’t used to get in the way of his work but lately it has rendered him unable to perform. With solemn introspectiveness, he proclaims that the only way he can go back to killing people is if he can give up drinking. He doesn’t like the AA meetings but if that’s what can get him to stop, that’s what he’ll have to do.

The screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (The Chronicles of Narnia) has an acute awareness about the realities of trying to quit an addiction; the AA scenes pack such a wallop that the scribes surely must have attended meetings themselves. In one scene, Tom tells Frank with insightful simplicity, “You just have to realize, bars are no longer an option.” Some of the early group scenes come off somewhat parodic which is regrettable, but as the film progresses, a clear respect for Frank’s quest to stay on the wagon makes itself evident. Kingsley, whose accent is as ambiguous as the film’s dark humor, has the gravitas to pull off the stirringly effective AA scenes in a way that few living actors can accomplish.

Unfortunately, when the film strays from the subject of alcohol, it often falters, zigzagging in all directions the way a drunk might stumble home from a bar. While Markus and McFeely exhibit a clear knowledge of alcoholism, they know far less about the business aspect of organized crime. Thus, the film’s plot continually gets in the way of the character’s quest for redemption. The needlessly complex and yet inherently empty scenes concerning rival Buffalo crime syndicates adds nothing to the film other than some logical inconsistencies. A stakeout scene in a quiet house has neither the wit nor the tension of an episode of The Sopranos.

But the undeniable fact of the matter is that the film is ultimately a strong look at the effects of alcohol. It has the power to be both a harbinger for those just embarking down that road and also a motivational tool for those seeking help. As opposed to the bleak fatalism of Mike Figgis’ Leaving Las Vegas, You Kill Me offers a hopeful tale of unlikely redemption.

This Week in Sports

Written By: Jamie Lazaroff
Edited By: Bob Lazzari

The sports world can be strange in the summer; sometimes it's slow and at other times there can be lots of news. This is one summer where there SURELY has been a lot happening.

*Finally, some good news in sports. Baseball's Hall of Fame inducted two of the greats of the recent era. Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken, Jr. played with the same teams throughout their entire careers. Mr. Gwynn won an amazing eight batting titles with the San Diego Padres. My best Tony Gwynn moment was at the 1999 All-Star Game in Boston when Ted Williams made an appearance and, in the middle of a slew of All-Stars congregating on the field, there are Ted and Tony sharing a special moment. Then Ted asked for Tony’s help to throw out the first pitch. I cried that night; yes, I remember it like it was yesterday. My best Cal Ripken Jr. moment was the night he broke Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games streak at 2,131. Again, I cried and remember it very well. For Ripken to play 2,632 consecutive games with one team, the Baltimore Orioles, is just unbelievable/.

*I’m a big soccer fan, so when David Beckham signed with Major League Soccer and the Los Angeles Galaxy, I was very excited at first. The more MLS talked about him changing the fate of American soccer, the more I came to believe that it will not happen that way. Don't get me wrong: David Beckham is still a great player. But Americans like to play soccer and not watch it; one player will not change this. I don’t think Beckham should have played in his first game, an exhibition. He had a knee injury and could have caused much more damage.

*On a sad note, one of the great sportscasters of our generation passed away this week, Bill Flemming. He reported on everything from NASCAR to barrel jumping for ABC’s Wide World of Sports. His death reminded me how much I miss Wide World. One favorite memory was watching the show and remembering what was on that day-- the Grand National for England and the Baja 1000. Some kids idolize sports stars; my idol happens to be Jim McKay from Wide World and I've always wanted to be just like him. Yes, those were the good old days.

*I can understand the PGA tour's thinking when they added the FedEx cup points competition. However, I don’t think it is working. The points system can only work if all the golfers play the same number of events. I do hope that most of the top 144 players play in the playoff; I'm positive the tour can make this thing work much better next year.

*This week’s spotlight is on a father and son team from Massachusetts, Dick and Rick Hoyt. You see, Rick was born in 1962 with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck which cut off oxygen to his brain. But in 1972, his first words (using a special computer) was “Go Bruins”. Yes, Rick was a sports fan, but he wanted to compete, too, and he did in 1977--competing in a five-mile benefit run for a paralyzed lacrosse player with his dad pushing him in his wheelchair. That night, Rick told his dad that he just didn’t feel handicapped when we were competing. Down the road, in 1981, they entered the Boston Marathon and finished in the top quarter of the field. After 4 years of marathons, "Team Hoyt" attempted their first triathlon; no, not just any triathlon but the Ironman in Hawaii--a grueling race. I saw the TV coverage of the Ironman; let me just say I cried again due to the emotion/success involved. Each time they completed it, I was touched the very same way. What a great story of a father's love for a son and of the true meaning of inclusion. Please go to http://www.teamhoyt.com/ and learn more about this unbelievable story. As Rick said: “The message of "Team Hoyt" is that everybody should be included in everyday life”. Yes, that's truly a message for everyone to live by.

That’s my take; I’d like to hear yours.

Jamie Lazaroff